Aarque Graphics – still making its mark with Sybiz’s help
The digital printing and graphics company’s new Sybiz accounts management suite means it can now tease out exactly where the business’s profits lie…
Aarque Graphics started life way back in 1948. It has undergone various name changes and owners since then, and now sells and leases large-format digital printing and graphics services nationwide.
Technology has played a major role in the company’s evolution. Where once it dealt with chemicalbased plan printers, these have now evolved into multifunction digital systems. Similarly, CAD/CAM and graphics applications have taken over from the drawing boards of old. Aarque has adapted as its customers’ needs have changed. Nowadays, the company sells, services and leases an extensive variety of large-format printers – as well as buying and refurbishing, and then reselling, printers. It also provides a wide range of professional services for all types of print requirements.
Upgrade time
“Over the last 15 years, we’ve been running the business on an old DOS-based accounting package,” says Adam Brooker, Aarque’s ICT manager.
“We were able to build many of our business processes into the system, but it had got to the point where we were trying to make it do things way beyond its capabilities. For instance, we had limited field sizes and adding additional data sets was difficult.”
“We wanted a combination financial and service management system that had more flexibility and that could be more widely accessible to staff. It also had to have more reporting options.”
Rather than spending time and effort trying to upgrade its legacy system, Aarque decided to retire it and buy a more up-to-date solution.
The company sent out a very specific RFI and RFP (Request for Information and Request for Proposal) – and got the answer it needed from BDO Spicers Information Systems and its technology partner, Sybiz. BDO’s director, Chandan Ohri, says customising Sybiz’s accounting suite to fit Aarque’s business wasn’t hard.
“Everything they wanted, Sybiz Vision and Vision Service Manager (VSM) could provide.” BDO implemented the solution, replicating the company’s business processes within the Sybiz suite, and then rolling out this out to the company’s nationwide network of technicians and managers.
Brooker says the BDO Spicers team was able to transfer most of the company’s business processes to the new system and pull across much of the data as well. “And, once we had the basics set up, they helped us customise the solution to our exact requirements.”
Easy reporting
One of Aarque’s key requirements was report generation. “Reporting is essential for us as we need to monitor the performance of every aspect of our business to ensure that we are operating at peak efficiency,” says Brooker.
“BDO helped us in two very specific ways. First they prepared a set of standard reports that give us snapshot views of the company. Some of these are quite involved and would have been very difficult for us to develop ourselves,” he says.
“But, more importantly, they have provided excellent ‘hands-on’ training in report design and preparation, so that we can develop our own reports, both standardised and ad hoc, in-house. This has been a tremendous help for us as we can now customise the way different teams within the company can access and use the information.”
More than 40 people throughout Aarque now use Sybiz Vision and VSM on a regular basis. “We have a tremendous amount of flexibility with both our financials and sales and service components,” says Brooker.
“Our analysts can now access a complete record of a particular printer and see immediately its service record, how many repairs it has required and how much revenue it has generated. It has allowed us to take control of our inventory and see which printers and services are the most profitable,” he says.
“We were able to do this in the past, but it took longer, was more laborious and required the help of my ICT team. But now, with personalised screens, customised reports and the ability to query the database, service technicians, call centre staff and managers can immediately access the information they need to make more informed decisions.”
Future-proofing
The combination of Sybiz’s accounting suite and help from the BDO Spicers team during installation has allowed Aarque to streamline its operations. It has also future-proofed its investment and now has a flexible, scalable solution for future growth.
“We have only just started to take full advantage of the capabilities that Vision and VSM offer,” concludes Brooker.
“The technology is evolving so fast that we really don’t have any idea where the markets will take us. But, with the flexibility that Sybiz affords – especially with reporting, the ability to adjust the databases as appropriate and the close integration with financials – we feel we are prepared to take advantage of any opportunities as they occur.”
For more information
Sybiz Software
www.sybiz.com
Ph 1300 1 SYBIZ
sybiz@sybiz.com
updated on 9/4/23_ex_h
At a Glance
Needed a complete upgrade to a new accounting package that could combine financial and service management systems which could then be easily accessed by staff ; also had to have good reporting options.
Solution
Sybiz Vision and Vision Service Manager (VSM). Implemented by BDO Spicers Information Systems.
Business Benefits
Easy report generation has allowed company to take control of its inventory and track the most profitable printers and services; can now do this quickly and easily, which makes for more informed decision-making.
